Aftermath BloodcoloredjellythingyBath
by Kuroharu
Summary: Aizen was defeated, blah blah… Set after that, some former espada are reborn as shinigami… What happened in the battle? Which espada are reborn? How has soul society changed? And how do the reborn espada feel about it? Read on and find out…


A/N- Right so, I was bored and high on coke… So I came up with this idea… But what I should really be doing is apologizing for the unannounced and oh-so-long hiatus. Please forgive me; I'll have the next chapters to Pale Moonlight and Write to the Espada up in a few days…

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo… if I was… 'Something' would never have had happened… Damn you Kubo…

* * *

**Chapter 1: Conquistadores**

"Soul Society," he muttered as he glanced at the map before him, brushing is black hair away from his eyes.

"Right, let's see," he pulled the map up to his face, muttering to himself, "to get to the meeting, I have to go past these three things which may or may not be eggs, then I'll end up at a statue of a… walrus… which will lead me over the rope bridge into umm… a bog or something… which I have to cross to get to the meeting room… is that supposed to be a rabbit?!"

He pulled the map even closer up. _That is one ugly rabbit…_

He had no sooner completed the thought that something struck him from the back, and he fell to the floor.

"Hey, sorry about that," the shinigami who'd bumped into him helped him up, "You okay?"

"I'm alright," he stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes before turning to the shinigami before him.

_Orange…_

"Hi, I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," the orange-haired shinigami smiled at him, "you look familiar, what squad are you in?"

"I haven't been told yet," he replied, "I just joined up…"

"Oh really?" Ichigo squinted at him in an odd manner, "you sure we haven't met before?"

"Not that I recall," he shook his head.

"Okay then, see you around," Ichigo started to leave, "You don't look like a homicidal maniac… so pray that you don't end up in the eleventh squad."

"Hey wait!" He rushed after the orange haired shinigami, "Can you help me umm… decipher this… map?"

"Sure, show me," he took one look at the map and then smiled, "Rukia…"

"What?" he stared at Ichigo, completely lost.

"Follow me I'll show you the way," he started to lead the way, "If you can keep up with me that is…"

* * *

"Well, here you are, 13th squad headquarters," Ichigo turned to leave, "see you around then."

"I forgot to ask," he stopped Ichigo again, "but what squad are you in?"

"I'm… umm… ah… I'm…" The sky suddenly seemed to be very interesting to Ichigo, "I'm not in any squad yet… I'm still a substitute shinigami…"

"Oh," he was unsure of what to make of it.

"But I pop in and out a lot," Ichigo turned to leave, "Oh and some advice, don't say anything about the map."

He watched the orange haired shinigami run off. _How odd… _

* * *

The main hall was eerily empty and silent. In fact, the entire building seemed to be deserted. He thought of looking at the map again, but that would even get him even more lost, sending him off looking for statues of walruses… or something…

"Freeze," he felt a sword's blade pressed gently against his back. _A woman's voice..._

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the voice was strict, somewhat scary.

"Saipher Rei, I'm supposed to be here for the orientation?" he answered quickly, "I couldn't understand the map so an orange haired shinigami led me here."

"Ichigo," she repeated his name, "and about my map?"

"I umm… couldn't make anything out," the blade felt very uncomfortable, "It wasn't very well drawn."

_Wait… 'My' map. Oh crap._

"You're new, I'll give you a lucky break this one time," she sighed, as he felt the pressure of the blade lift off his back, "the meeting isn't here, come along I'll show you where it is."

"Thank you," he sighed in relief too, turning back to face the woman behind him. The awfully small woman behind him…

"Kuchiki Rukia, Captain thirteenth squad," she held out her hand, "If you got one of my maps it means you're going to be in my squad."

"Captain?" the words slipped from his tongue.

"Yes, captain," she glared at him, "is there a problem?"

"No, no problem captain," he could feel himself starting to sweat.

"Good, now follow me," she pointed to the door, "You shouldn't be late on your first day."

* * *

The ground was filled with fresh new shinigami, all waiting to pass the orientation ceremony so they could go and get their first Zanpakuto.

Rei stood silently, watching the other shinigami, probably the captains, as they gathered around the podium.

"Hey there," someone grabbed him from behind, "you look familiar."

"So I've been told," he turned around to face come face to face with a thin, pink haired cadet like him.

_First orange, now pink… what's next, green?_

"Akito Zayar," he held out his hand, "and you are…"

"Saipher Rei," he shook Zayar's hand, "but I don't think we've met before."

He was pretty sure he'd never forget someone with hair that pink…

"My mistake then," Zayar smiled, "But we'll both be shinigami now, I wonder which squad we'll be in…"

"I'm in the thirteenth," Rei replied.

"Oh really?" Zayar raised an eyebrow, "We aren't supposed to know until after this ceremony."

"I umm… wandered into the squad headquarters by mistake," he admitted, "I met my captain there, and she led me here."

"Escorted by a captain?" Zayar smirked, "Lucky you. Was she hot?"

"Hush, keep it down you two," a girl spoke up from behind them, "the ceremony is starting."

"Sorry," Rei turned around then froze.

Green hair.

"What are you staring at?" she asked him irately.

"Nothing," he turned back towards the podium.

"Oh umm… sorry for snapping at you," the girl apologized, "I'm Odev Neru."

"Saipher Rei," he replied.

A white haired shinigami stood at the front of the stage, the ceremony had started.

* * *

"Shinigami old and new, good morning," the man's voice was strained, as if sick, "I'm commander general Ukitake Joushiro, welcome to soul society."

"He looks like he's going to die any second," Zayar whispered into his ear.

"Shut up," Neru snapped at him, "I want to hear him speak."

"Fine," Zayar grumbled.

"… I'm sure all of you know the importance attached to your duties," captain Ukitake continued, "Please prove yourself to be worth of the power bestowed upon you and the responsibility attached to it…"

"Blah blah blah-bitty… oomph…" Neru showed her elbow into Zayar's ribs.

"Now please relax," Ukitake wound up the speech, "you shall now be divided into squads and proceed to your individual headquarters for further instructions. But please, make yourself at home; there is a weeklong orientation period before you will be given real tasks. We hope to have you with us for a long time."

"Will the captains please arrange their squads," he motioned to the other captains before turning back to the cadets, "First squad will be the one with the blue maps."

After the first squad had been gathered and had departed, the second squad captain approached the crowd.

"Second squad captain, Soi Fong," she announced, "The yellow maps."

"Third squad captain, Matsumoto Rangiku..."

"Fourth Squad captain, Unohana Retsu…"

"Fifth squad captain, Soihon Yoroichi…" Neru ran off to join them, "see you later..."

"Sixth squad captain, Kuchiki Byakuya…"

"Seventh squad captain, Kyouraku Shunsui…"

"Eight squad captain, Komamura Saijin…"

"Ninth squad captain, Madarame Ikkaku…"

"Tenth squad captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro…"

"Eleventh squad captain, Zaraki Kenpachi…"

"Twelfth squad captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi…" Zayar got his call, "Later Rei. Damn this guy looks like a freak."

"Thirteenth squad captain, Kuchiki Rukia," he heard his call, "You're the one with the… oh screw the maps, you're the only ones left…"

* * *

"Right so everyone, welcome to thirteenth squad," Rukia addressed the now full hall at the thirteenth squad headquarters, "Your Zanpakuto are in your rooms, please follow the directions on the maps to find your rooms."

Rei stared glumly at the paper handed to him. _Another map…_

Still, he sighed and set about finding his room.

_Okay, first turn right, then left, and then go straight until you come to the part where the meteor is stuck in the side of the building… Or is that a giant penguin…_

The directions were, as expected, absolutely useless. But he could see the rest of the new shinigami struggling with the map, so he might as well give it another try.

* * *

It takes an idiot to get lost, but it takes skill to get lost and then walk into a girl's room while she's changing. It takes even more skill for that girl to be your captain as well…

Apparently, Rei was a very skilled idiot.

* * *

"I'm so sorry," he apologized profusely as soon as the now red-faced Rukia stepped out of her room, "I just got lost…"

"Show me your map," she ordered, "And not one single word on how it's drawn."

He handed over the map.

"Here follow me," she grabbed his sleeve and dragged him up a flight of stairs, before throwing him inside and empty room.

"Ouch," he rubbed the back of his head.

"Your Zanpakuto is in the cupboard. There will be classes starting tomorrow to try to awaken your potential, Eight sharp," she listed, "Breakfast is at 7, so is dinner, all other meals are your own responsibility. All other details shall be posted in the common room. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. If I'm not in the office, I'll be in my room, and I'm sure you know where my room is by now."

The amount of poison dripping off the last words was scary.

"Is that understood?" she asked.

"Yes Ma'am," he replied.

"Good, make yourself at home," she closed the door behind her. He let out a sigh. He'd thought she was going to kill him.

* * *

_This is perhaps the oddest form of training ever invented._

Rei stared at the other cadets around him, all squinting and making odd inhuman faces at their zanpakuto, trying to listen to 'it's voice'.

"Come on now, come on, concentrate!" their instructor paced around, adjusting the green and white striped hat on his head, "Gaze deep into your zanpakuto and cry out to it, scream at it, tell it you love it!"

_Tell it you… love it?_

"I love you!" the other's chants filled the air.

"Gotcha," Urahara Kisuke laughed, "Come on everyone, concentrate, you're trying to communicate with your spirit, not trying to send it into a laughing fit because of your facial expressions."

"Hey, any luck?" Neru whispered under her breath, "All I see is my face in the blade."

"I know, isn't it beautiful?" Zayar commented while continuing to stare into his sword, "Oh look, a hair on my chin…"

"All right, that's all for today's training," Urahara announced, "Please head on to the adjacent area for some weapon training."

"Ooh, weapon training," Neru chirped.

"You sure sound happy," Zayar remarked.

"That's just because I can't wait to puncture you full of holes," Neru smirked.

"Protect me, will you Rei?" Zayar feigned cowering behind him.

The three of them laughed as they made their way towards the next area.

* * *

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," the instructor in the new area announced, "And I'll be teaching you the basics of fighting. Since I doubt any of you know how to perform a release yet, your primary focus will be to hit hard and hit fast."

There was a deafening crash; the west wall seemed to have fallen.

"Ichigo!" a crazed voice filled the air.

"Ichi-ni" a high pitched girls voice.

"Shit," Ichigo swore loudly.

"Kurosaki Ichigo!" Zaraki Kenpachi jumped out of the dust created by the falling rubble, his vice-captain Yachiru clinging onto his back, "Get ready Ichigo!"

"Oh-shit-I'm-screwed-okay-that's-enough-for-one-day-keep-practicing-I'll-see-you-tomorrow-if-I-live-that-long…" Ichigo dismissed the class and ran off, a crazed Kenpachi chasing after him.

"Umm… right, what was that all about?" Zayar stared at Ichigo as he jumped over the east wall.

"I have no idea," Neru's jaw was hanging loose, "do you?"

"Not in the slightest," Rei replied slowly.

_Soul Society certainly was… unique…_

* * *

Ah, so I hope everyone liked it.

In case you didn't get it…

Saipher Rei = Ulquiorra Schiffer… or in the earlier translations, Ulquiorra Cipher…

Odev Neru = Nel Tu Odervshank

Akito Zayar = Szayel Aporro Grantz

I know; I'm not good at naming so forgive me.

Other than that, I hope you had fun and look forward to reading more.


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